Second Faces
by Traveller'sSuitcase
Summary: Wally West had the perfect life, with the perfect job and the perfect home, so when Luke realised he could pass himself off as the other man, why not steal his identity? Now Wally is stuck in another man's life who happens to work with his ex-boyfriend, Dick. Can he find a way to prove who he really is, and cope with these redeveloping feelings at the same time?
1. Chapter 1

Second Faces

Disclaimer- I do not own any DC characters, I merely wrote this story.

At the moment I am feeling as if I want to try something new, and since I have always loved this couple and the characters I thought why not do a story involving them. Anyway, here it is and I hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

Forgiving is a lot easier than forgetting. That was what Dick had told him that day as he showed him the door. It seemed stupid now, the way he had reacted, the words he had said; he should have just gone back and apologised, but Wally never had the guts. He still regretted that some days, but usually he just tried to forget. Dick was right, it is pretty hard.

It was odd though, for this to be the first thought to appear in his clear mind. Usually when he first awoke his plans were able to overwrite it, keeping him busy with responsibilities and sometimes nonsense which could take over priority. He attempted to clear his mind once again, trying to remember where he was going, what he was doing today, but it was impossible to think. Maybe once he was out of bed it would be easier.

Wally forced open his eyes, blinking them several times to allow them to adjust to the oddly intense light in his room.

"Ah, sleeping beauty." Wally froze at the sound of the voice, deeply shocked by someone being present in his- Wait, this was not his room. He did not have those lime walls, or cream curtains, let alone a poster of some cheesy boy band.

"Chill, Luke. Dad found you lying on some kerb so he just brought you to my room for the night." Wally allowed his head to twist to the direction of the female's voice, wondering who on earth she was, and more importantly who was Luke.

The girl could not have yet turned sixteen, with a small body carrying slightly too much weight giving her a young, sweet look. The only problem being, he did not know her.

"My name is not Luke." He told her, finally allowing himself to sit up, but immediately dropping back to the pillow with a horrid banging feeling spreading through his head. The girl giggled at the sight, lifting herself out of the small chair in the corner of the room and coming over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Have you really had that much to drink?" She asked, tucking the edge of the blanket over his exposed arm. "Listen; just get some more rest, because dad is going to want to kill you when you get down stairs." She warned, smile still on her face.

In his confusion, Wally was unable to stop the girl once again before she had left the room, heading off to who-knows-where, so decided to get himself together and try to fix it on his own.

Right, he needed to sort this in his mind. So maybe he did look like this other guy, Luke. Maybe he had had too much to drink and has just been confused for him so brought here. Ok, so he will explain that to the family, maybe even help them find their real Luke and then go home. Easy.

Wally smiled at his success, before attempting to sit up once again. This time it was slightly better, and he was able to fight off the groggy feeling for long enough to reach for his coat that was conveniently resting on the chair beside him and get into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He would start by ringing work to let them know he would not be coming in today, and then he could sort everything else out.

Wally slid his finger over his phone to cause it to hum into life, immediately showing him the date- October 7th. But that was impossible, yesterday was September, he could be sure of that. Maybe his phone was incorrect; it had got the date wrong before. Able to ignore that, Wally dialled in work's number and waited for the receptionist to answer the phone.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Hi, this is Wally West; I just wanted to call to say I can't come in today."

"I'm sorry, but Wally West is already here." Wally paused at that, becoming as confused as the woman clearly was from her voice. He could not be there when he was here. Maybe someone he had gone out with last night had covered for him, saying he had something to do and would be in later and that was what she had meant.

"He is here is the office if you need to speak to him though." That he could not explain.

"Ok, sure." He answered, hoping for his friend's voice to come on the phone, laughing at the prank they had pulled.

"Hello?" But that was not his friend's voice. In fact, that almost sounded like his voice.

"Who is this?" He found himself asking as he lay back down in an attempt to clear pressure from his head, although now he could not rule out worry as a cause.

"Wally West."

"I'm Wally West." He told the voice, still holding onto the hope of laughter being the next sound.

"Oh, I was wondering when you would call. I'm surprised it lasted a whole month, I was expecting at the most two weeks from those cheap drugs."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, Luke, I'm afraid we have had to swap. For your own sake to avoid everyone thinking you are crazy I recommend you get on with life. Think of all the plus points, snazzy new name, daddy dearest and-"

"What are you talking about?" Wally asked again, using his spare hand to rub his fingers against his temples. This had to be some odd nightmare or a far too thought out joke. This could not be real, it is impossible for this to be real.

"You are me now, Wally. You're Luke. Anyway, I have to go now, please don't call again." A long lasting beep was then next sound through the phone signalling the conversation had been cut far too short, and leaving Wally staring at the phone. This was defiantly a dream now, some sick creation of his mind which he could laugh about with everyone at work when he woke up. He would just play along for a while and then he would wake up. Right, that is exactly what will happen. In any other situation Wally would have laughed at these attempts to convince himself, but everything about this appearing so real he could feel nothing but serious.

"Luke." Wally had not noticed the girl reappear in the door, but was somewhat thankful for the slight distraction from the disturbing phone call. "Dad really wants to speak to you now. Is it true you haven't showed up to work in a month?"

Wally wanted to answer the girl, but he truly did not know. If what Luke had said was true, he had been unconscious for a month, during which time Luke could have stayed in his life, but he was not sure of anything at the moment.

"Can you help me up?" He asked her, offering one hand while with the other sliding his phone back into his coat pocket. He was not about to lose the last thing linking him with his real life.

"Sure." The girl was now at his side, holding his hand and helping to pull him up with it. Upon standing, he became immensely light-headed, but forced himself to see past it and allow the girl to lead him towards the stairs.

"Stacy!" An angered voice of what he assumed to be their father called from in the kitchen. Their father, why was thinking like this? Of course he could not play along with this forever, he needed to go home and therefore stop thinking this way.

"We're coming now dad!" The girl replied, which he was somewhat thankful for as at least he now knew her name. How could Luke have just left his sister like this without even a goodbye? That is, assuming she is meant to be his full sister. Well, they shared a father at least.

Said father was instantly visible in the room that Stacy led him into, as the large man filled up the sofa like a whale in a goldfish bowl. His bright red face was scrunched up tightly to show his anger, making his bushy eyebrows appear to fall into his eyes.

"One month with no calls, one month without even going to work, one month without showing up at your flat, let alone paying the rent. Luke Armstrong, I thought you were dead!" The large man roared, as with each word his voice gaining intensity.

"I'm sorry, I don't-"

"I don't want to hear excuses, Luke. From now on you are living under this roof where I can keep an eye on you. As for your job, well I've managed to convince them to take you back but don't think I'll do it again." The man warned, and although he was no longer shouting, something about his voice led to a greater feeling of fear making him think he really could not do this. This was not his life, he had not messed this up, and he could not live with the consequences. As soon as he could he would find a friend, explain everything. They could sort him out and then-

"Are you listening to me lad?"

"Erm, yes." Wally replied, taking a single step back. He really needed to sit down, his head was spinning.

"Well, I would not send you into work today, but after breakfast you are going to get some proper clothes with your sister. I'm not having a son who looks like his clothes were made from his blind grandfather." With that, the man appeared to be done, spitting into a pot at his side and switching on the television, although he was still muttering some complaint under his breath.

"You do look ridiculous." Stacy whispered, a smile growing which led her to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Surely he could not have dressed himself that badly.

Wally walked himself over to the mirror he had spotted in the corner of the room, that with a single glance of himself making him wonder whether he should laugh or cry. Over his top he was wearing a yellow tank-top with forest green polka dots appearing here and there, and over his lower half he had a pair of **short **shorts that barely covered his bottom.

"I'm going to kill this Luke."

* * *

Well, this is the first chapter. I just wanted to use this to give an insight into the situation, and a slight reference to Dick who of course he will be meeting in later chapters. More about Luke, Wally and Dick will be explained as it goes further.

I wanted to finish this on a slightly lighter note with the clothes to stop it being a little too drab for a first chapter. Anyway, if you can leave me a review and let me know if you enjoyed it or if you think there is anything I need to improve on. Thanks everyone for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

He She We

Disclaimer- I do not own any DC characters, I merely wrote this story.

I will like to start by thanking the people who added my story as a favourite or followed it, I really appreciate the support. Hopefully the new chapter will bring a bit more interest and maybe even get a review to let me know of any good or bad points. Anyway, here it is.

* * *

Mounds of bags and yet not a single thing for himself- defiantly a successful shopping trip for Stacy but maybe not so much for him. After finding two sets of Luke's clothes were hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe below his masses of underwear (which Wally was defiantly not about to wear), his 'sister' had seemed to decide it was no longer an urgent matter to supply him with fresh clothing.

"After we've stopped for this milkshake we'll go look for some new shoes. I need them for a party on Saturday." She informed him, as she tapped away on her mobile phone at speeds that Wally never knew could be achieved by man.

"That's great Stacy, but I kind of still need clothes." To this, Stacy let out a great sigh showing how much of a great hassle Wally had become.

"Fine, you take some of the money and go buy yourself some clothes, and I'll get the shoes. We'll meet back here." She instructed, opening up her purse to remove several notes from it that her father had supplied her with and handing them to Wally.

"Alright." He agreed, taking the offered money and standing up from his seat where they had been taking a break in one of the many cafés in the huge mall.

"And don't get lost." She added, as she too stood before walking away, somehow managing to direct herself carefully through the people without taking her eyes off her phone.

"Teenagers."

"That was you just last month." Wally found himself turning to stone. That voice, that voice was all too familiar.

"It is you, right Luke? Sorry, of course it is you; you just look like someone I use to know. And I say that every time we meet, but forgetting is hard though, right?" Wally was unable to ignore that now, as he twisted around to find himself looking at the last person he ever imagined he would see.

"Dick?"

"Last time I checked." That bright smile, those brilliant blue eyes, but it could not be. Surely he could not say nothing about passing someone who looked _exactly_ like his ex, but then again who wants an awkward conversation following telling someone they look like someone you broke up with?

"Are you ok Luke?"

"Oh, erm, yeah." He answered, realising he had been blankly staring at the other man.

"Right, well I need to be going. See you at work tomorrow."

"We work together?" He found himself asking, before realising how ridiculous he sounded. He had to pretend to be Luke now, and that meant knowing everything Luke did. "I mean I'm just surprised I still have my job."

"Yeah, the boss took a lot of convincing. If you don't mind me asking, where have you been anyway?"

"Oh, just, you know, about."

"Right, well as I said I have to go." One more perfect smile and Dick was disappearing as quickly as he had came, which could not help but leave Wally disorientated. After all these years, there he was standing right in front of him, smiling at him, but it was not really Wally he was here with, it was Luke. This was going to be way too complicated.

"Alright, I've got my shoes." Wally was snapped out of his thoughts by Stacy's call, as she approached the man with an extra bag to fit in with the many others. "Where are your clothes?"

"Oh, I erm… got lost." Stacy groaned, pushing the many bags into Wally's arms.

"Honestly, Luke, you are so useless."

* * *

The rest of the experience was a blur. Stacy would offer some clothes, Wally would offer a dumb nod, and they would move on. The meeting with Dick was finally showing him the severity of the situation, and how deep he was going to have to go into this to stand any chance of getting out.

"You got clothes?!" Wally had not even realised he had entered the home once again until the father's voice came thundering to his ears.

"Yeah." The reply came as a feeble mutter as Wally began to drag himself up the stairs, not sure if it was his body or brain hurting the most after the hours of mall exploration.

"Good, because there's someone here to see you." Wally stopped his dragging as he allowed himself to look over to the room claimed by the large man and his equally large TV.

"Coming." At least down was easier than up was his only positive thought, as he was less then excited to have to deal with another piece of Luke's life.

"It's Cathy." Luke's father seemed to be as enthusiastic as Wally about 'Cathy', who appeared to be the woman watching herself in the same mirror that had revealed to Wally Luke's prank.

"Hi Cathy." Unsure as to whether or not he was supposed to like this woman, Wally kept a neutral tone as he slid into the room, standing himself by the entrance in the hope that the woman would realise he was subtly hinting to her he did not want her to stay.

"You've got the boy calling me Cathy too?" The woman's voice came out as dark and thick, a deep contrast to her small, slight body.

"It's not like you're ever here." The large man mumbled, picking up the remote to increase the TV's volume.

"Just call me mother sweetheart." Wally was momentarily shocked, but after a day of lying he became able to bounce back.

"Alright." He chose simple reply as he looked over the woman once again. She only looked young in her bright clothing with a heavily made-up face, certainly not like someone you expected to do the school run.

"I was worried when I heard you were missing. I just couldn't-"

"What are you doing here?" Once again Wally had not noticed Stacy enter, however she was already standing by his side.

"I came to see my children." She offered brightly, although her smile had now become a nervous one.

"You're not our mother, Cathy." Stacy spit out the word as if it left a sour taste in her mouth, before grabbing hold of Wally's hand. "Come on Luke, you can help me watch paint dry." Wally allowed himself to be led away from the woman, trusting his attitude would be the same as Stacy's, but it was beginning to become harder to be a man he had never met than he first thought.

"I can't do this."

"Pardon?"

"I said…erm…I like shoes…es."

* * *

So, there it is. This sort of gives you the backdrop to Luke's life so we can move on to the first day back at work and back with Dick.

Thank you for reading and if you have the time please leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

Wally and Wally and Work

Disclaimer- I do not own any DC characters, I merely wrote this story.

Here we go again, another week, another chapter. This time Wally is heading off for his first day at work, as you probably already know. I hope you enjoy it, and if you can, please leave a review at the end.

* * *

Before Wally and Dick had broken up, Dick had had an excellent job. Although Wally was unable to remember the title of his role, he recalled it as a well-paid office job that Dick had truly loved, and that was also defiantly not here. This building was a crumbled mess with a door that he had quickly learned was unable to properly shut, computers that were still starting up from when he had arrived fifteen minutes ago and only three people present, himself, Dick and a young woman who looked like she belonged in a funeral parlour. By all accounts, the place was grim, and he doubted Luke would be in the big bucks that would make this place worth it. 'Martin's', it was called, although what the place really was or what his job was was beyond him, he would have to find a way of finding that out later. However, his main focus now was what Dick was doing in a place like this, or what Luke was doing in his place right now. Surely he could not perform Wally's job? Maybe he could, maybe no one would even tell the difference, maybe-

"Are you going to be sitting there all day, Mr Armstrong, or are you going to type in your password and get to work?" There was old long face, who Wally had now decided he would call The Horse. Already this was becoming too much for him, he did not know the job, let alone the password.

"Ok." He told the woman, typing away as if entering the password just to get her to go away.

"Forgot your password again?" Wally lifted his head above the computer to Dick's desk in front of him, where the other man was quickly typing away, although Wally was unable to read what he was putting, so the work was still out of his reach, but at least now he could be thankful for Luke's careless behaviour.

"Yeah."

"It's Dick." Wally looked at the other man in confusion, why would Luke use Dick's name as the password? Unless, they were-

"I changed it a while back to something I could remember since you seem to forget it every day." Wally could not help but release a thankful sigh, afterwards quickly wishing that Dick would just take that as being happy he could actually get into using the machine.

"Why do we have passwords for these things anyway?"

"So Joanne can't go through your search history." Wally assumed Joanne was The Horse, judging by the fact there was no one else here and it did not look like anyone else was about to arrive.

"Right." Wally paused after that, trying to decide if it was plausible for Luke to ask what work he was meant to be doing. Well, for a man who had disappeared for a month, it did not appear like the oddest thing he could do.

"What do I do?"

"You? Laze around, do mostly nothing, tell your awful jokes and then start typing when Joanne walks past."

"Sounds like Luke- I mean me!" Wally corrected, before realising how strongly he had enforced it with his volume raising. "What I mean is… I'll just get on with it." He finished, tossing a look over his shoulder to see The Horse safely behind her desk and out of earshot.

"So, err, why did you leave your last job?" He found himself asking, whilst bringing up a document and typing out all the things he had learnt about Luke's life so far, and the things he would need to remember before he can get out of this hell-hole of a life.

"Fancied a change." That was a lie. Dick always scratched his arm when he was lying, it was impossible for Wally to forget that.

"But you loved that job."

"How would you know?" Ops, of course he was not meant to know that. How could he be a fool enough to even let himself speak to Dick in the first place? He had cover himself, what would Luke do?

"I remember seeing you in a magazine, couldn't forget that smile."

"Hilarious Luke." Dick's sarcastic tone showed Wally he had slipped out of it this time, although he was not fancying his chances for a round two.

"Are we working?!" The Horse's voice echoed through the room, which for the first time Wally was thankful for, as it gave him a reason to escape from the conversation with Dick. He would have to force himself to keep away; speaking with someone so closely linked with the real him was too much of a risk before he could prove who he really was. No one would believe him if he went and said he was Wally now, and he may be forever unable to prove he was Wally, but he was sure he could prove Luke was Luke.

"Writing our life and times are we?" The Horse's voice jolted Wally out of his thoughts as he instantly closed the document.

"I was just-"

"I don't want to hear it, look, just go to the front desk, grab the papers and then type them into the computer, it isn't rocket science! You know, if it was up to me you'd have no job. No job at all, in fact…" Wally was thankfully able to put some skills he had learnt in his school days to use, as he was able to block out the rambling and stop a smile from forming on his face. Finally, he knew what he was doing; maybe this would not be this tough after all.

"-so learn some respect." When The Horse had finished, she brought some papers to Wally which he thanked her for before taking the opportunity to distract himself with the work.

"Why are you so different?" Dick's voice was the next he heard, which left him regretting his optimistic thoughts.

"Err, what do you mean?" He questioned, trying to sound calm.

"You're doing work, you have only given one joke all day and you were actually friendly when I saw you in the mall. Overall, you haven't been yourself." Could no one give him a break around here? Wally sighed, stopping his typing as he looked over to Dick, who still had not taken his eyes off the computer screen.

"Maybe I'm trying to change for the better."

"Luke Armstrong? Change? Pigs will fly before that ever happens." If only he knew how much Wally was praying that statement was right.

* * *

"Change? No, sorry, all out."

"That's ok, Wally, I'll ask someone else." 'Wally' offered a fake, but friendly smile to the man as he walked off to find someone else to give him money so he could once again inflate that gigantic stomach using the many vending machines, which really should be kept away from the man. This place was filled with bad looking people, far below Luke's standards. And there was him thinking Wally's life could get him all the girls…

"Hey, Wally." Oh great, the cheesiest man alive has come to share with the mice. Luke was actually quite proud of his self-control. Of course, studying the man's life before he entered it had helped, but coping with these people was a difficult task.

"Hi, George." He greeted as he looked over the blood-covered glove he was supposed to examine which may hold some 'major clue' to who murdered a local woman. Do people really care about all that nonsense?

"How's the case going?"

"Great." Luke lied. He had actually managed to go through it all by making things up as he went along. It had actually been working so far; they thought they had found a killer from his 'evidence'. Oh well, if it was the wrong man he should not have been there in the first place and got a better alibi. Anyway, no one had asked him to prove it.

"Brilliant, want to go to dinner after to celebrate?" That was a definite no, tonight Luke was going to find a little company, and not the kind that stinks of sweat and cats.

"Sorry, I need to catch up on my sleep."

"That's ok, you boring thing. I'll be seeing you." Another fake smile was offered as the ratty man stumbled away like a drunk parrot. This was harder than he had first thought, but still it had to be worth it, and was defiantly better than back home. Poor Wally stuck with daddy-dearest, the brat, the goblin and the golden angel. Yep, he could cope here. Maybe he should send Wally some thank-you-flowers…

"Wally!" Oh yeah, that was right, he was Wally now.

* * *

Well, there it is. I wanted to include a bit with Luke's side and have them both at work, which I hope turned out ok. Thank you all for reading, I hope you liked it and if you have the time please leave some feedback.


	4. Chapter 4

The 'Prank' Call

Disclaimer- I do not own any DC characters, I merely wrote this story.

This chapter has a came a little later than I had hoped, which I have to apologise for, but for health reasons I've been having a little break. Anyway, I'm back again now, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading and please review if you have the time.

* * *

The night was the kind you would try to avoid, tucked up at home with your hot water bottles and a classic film to keep you company. The heat would be on full blast with the curtains open to allow the chilling scene to give you an extra feeling of gratitude for your shelter. Yes, Wally could well and truly picture Luke comfy and warm at home in his bed. Needless to say it did not leave him in the best of moods.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"Huh?" Came the dumb response as Wally looked down at the other man seated on the step of 'Martin's' beside him.

"I was asking why you're so miserable today." Dick repeated, before giving a quick shake to remove the dead leaves that had become caught in the man's bulky coat that was far too large for his smaller frame.

"I hate Luke's life."

"Talking about yourself in third person now?"

"When does my shift end?" Wally questioned, batting off the other man's comment. Although he doubted home would be much better, it would be warmer, especially since The Horse demanded they spent their breaks in the doorway.

"Five o'clock. Is it your cravings?"

"Cravings?"

"You usually don't go more than ten minutes without another cigarette, but I haven't seen you smoke all day."

"Oh, I've quit." Laughter erupted at that, as Dick clutched his stomach and shook his head.

"What the hell has happened to you? You've been nothing but weird since you returned." Dick asked, his face reflecting his disbelief at Wally's actions.

"Let's just say I'm not feeling myself."

"Armstrong! Grayson! Get in here and finish now!" Wally's head twisted towards the woman's voice, letting out a deep sigh.

"How much longer do we have left?"

"Five more minutes, the amount of time it takes for those machines to switch off." Dick stood to his feet, stretching upwards and griping his back in pain.

"Are you ok?" Wally inquired, unable to keep some concern from his voice.

"Fine, just an old injury." As always, Dick set up a fresh wall with the main defence being that fake smile. Wally had always hated that smile as he had always known it meant Dick was shutting him out, not trusting him to make everything alright which he would always find a way to do for him.

"Alright." He stuck to as a simple reply, knowing as Luke that he could not press the matter any further. Instead, he took his mind back to getting the day and over with, and rushed back into the office to begin shutting down his computer under The Horse's glare, who made it very clear she was not about to take her eyes off Wally for the rest of the time he was here, not that it mattered- he was completely unable to see what trouble he could cause sat in front of a computer all day.

"See you another time." Dick's voice dragged Wally's attention off his screen, where the computer was still unable to even save the documents he had used. The other man's computer looked exactly like his own on the surface, but he chose against challenging its increased speed, as well as saying a goodbye. He had come to the decision that being cold to Dick may be essential at times to keep at a distance to lower the risk of a slip up, but he was beginning to wonder if that mattered; by all accounts Luke was a selfish, rude, ignorant person, yet Dick still seemed more than happy to speak with him. It was odd; the old Dick he knew would have avoided that kind of person like the plague.

"Are we done loitering yet Mr Armstrong?"

"Yep." Wally left his computer shutting down, deciding that watching it would make no difference, as he collected his papers from his desk and handed them to The Horse.

"Good, you can leave then and wait outside."

"Wait for what?"

"Your father of course. Did you forget you never managed to grow up and still need your father to drive you home?"

"But if I can walk here I can walk home."

"You're telling me." The Horse muttered with a roll of her eyes as she turned her back on Wally.

'Honk! Honk!'

"That's your curtain call Armstrong." Not that he needed telling. Wally was more than happy to get as far away from the witch of a woman as possible, and as far away from this cold as possible, even if it meant going back to Luke's home.

"Hi." Wally greeted to his 'father' as he dropped himself into the backseat of the car, becoming slightly surprised that the man had even left his sofa.

"We need to talk, Luke." Was defiantly not the reply he had hoped would come from the large man, whose hands were gripping the steering wheel with such a force that it turned them white.

"What about?" He found himself asking, although he was not sure he wanted the answer.

"I got a call from a man accusing you of doing something very serious, and I need you to answer me truthfully here Luke." Wally felt his heart sink. He could live like this man for a while, but he was not going to pay for all of his mistakes.

"A man called saying you have been trying to impersonate him and steal his identity." Wally was unable to answer, shock concealing him in its waves. Surely Luke would not go as far as that, not after all he had put him through already.

"Well, have you?"

"N-no. Who said I have?" Maybe there was another victim of Luke; no surely there was no chance of another look-a-like appearing out of thin air.

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but his name is Mr West."

'Why would Luke do this?' As soon as the thought came, he realised what a ridiculous question it was. If he was already accused of trying to be 'Wally', if he came out and said who he really was he would never be believed. Maybe this did not change his original plan of Luke messing up, or maybe it changed everything.

"Luke?" The large man's voice pulled Wally out of his thoughts and back into his situation. He really had no choice but to play along now, and if Luke was not going to slip up, he would make him slip up.

"That's the most stupid thing I have ever heard. Listen, it's probably just some stupid prank. Let's just go home, I've got some work I need to do."

"Work?"

"Let's call it revision."

* * *

That's all for now folks. I know it isn't really much, but you've got to set up the dominos if you want them to fall, so hopefully you can all bear with me.


	5. Chapter 5

Detection and Deletion

Disclaimer- I do not own any DC characters, I merely wrote this story.

Well, this time we're mixing it up a bit and switching to Stacy's PoV for chapter 5, which seems to have come pretty fast (probably because I can't even remember writing 2 or 3). Anyway, without further ado I present to you chapter cinco.

* * *

Stacy had not been expecting Luke to return home that night, not after dad had revealed to him he was in a fresh heap of trouble. It was odd- he had calmly entered the house before diving up to his newly-made bedroom and spending the next two hours silently on his laptop, whereas before he would left, possibly to one of his friends she did not know, but more likely a girlfriend. It may have sounded strange to say she was jealous, but she could not help but despise the girls for being another reason Luke had no time for her. That was another strange thing, he had not used his phone at all to contact anyone to say he had returned, or even attempted to leave the house other than for work and their shopping trip. It seemed like he had become a whole different person during that month he had been gone; like he had banged his head on the pavement and completed changed his personality like those stories in magazines. Whatever had happened, he certainly was not the man she remembered.

"Hi Stace." Luke had left his room, although the hum of his laptop was still audible showing he probably had all intentions of returning to his new cave.

"Hey Luke." She answered him simply, as she watched the man in the corridor scratch the side of his cheek from an itch probably caused by the uncomfortable bedding used in his room as one of their father's subtle punishments.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing." It was not a complete lie, since she was longer spying on her brother, but she wished it was. Stacy could recall the frantic buzzing of tens of phones as the girls in her class texted their friends, despite sitting on desks opposite one another if not closer. They were the popular kind, the kind with three hundred friends on social networking sites, photo-shopped selfies (not that most of them needed it), a boyfriend for every month and diets that Stacy could not even pronounce. She was just the overweight girl with hair that matched the style of the average clown wig.

"Right, well I'm going to get a drink." Well, at least that was a bit more like Luke, not asking if she wanted one too. Maybe she was just overreacting earlier, but it still might pay to know what he was up to.

Stacy waiting until the sound of the creaking stairs had finally ceased before diving off her position on her bed and into the hallway, checking once more for her brother until she was finally satisfied he was preoccupied, and dived into his room.

Luke's room had always been like entering a bear cave- a dark, dismal place with an easily angered creature inside, living in his own dirt. This room was not Luke's. The place was clean, bright and airy, with the curtains open wide and any rubbish placed into the bin basket beside the door. Since when did Luke know how to use a bin? Putting it down to their father's threats finally managing to have some success, Stacy tiptoed over to where the laptop rested on the desk, lifting up the still slightly open screen to thankfully see it had not locked itself. Stacy shook the mouse, immediately lightening the screen as she examined what he had opened- Luke's profile on a social networking site where it appeared he had been searching through his previous posts, train schedules, 'Martin's' website and Luke's own website.

Around two years ago, Stacy had noticed Luke taking strange phone calls and spending more and more time on the computer. She recalled one time that she had stepped into his room to see him on that website and he had been more than pleased to tell her of his success. 'A private investigator'- that was what he had called himself, but to Stacy he was just a hacker helping stalkers to work on their victims. She recalled one time when he had told her to pick a random man from the death records, and by midday he knew every detail of his life from start to finish. It had frightened her at the time, making her worry for her own privacy, although it was not like she had much to hide.

Deciding altogether it was nothing out of the ordinary, with her assuming the train schedules were for planning his next grand escape, Stacy turned her attention to his phone. Thankfully, this too asked for no password as it immediately granted her access and, wary of time, she went straight to looking at his photographs, knowing there would be no point checking his messages as usually he only called and that even if she looked in his phonebook she would not know who they are either way.

There were only three photographs altogether for Stacy to look through, which was odd for Luke- usually he would take around fifty pictures at a party. Maybe he had had a clear-out. Starting with the first, she was greeted by a face she did not recognise of an elderly lady, defiantly not Luke's usual choice of picture but she had no time to dwell on that as she was aware of the task only being small that had taken her brother away. The next photograph- a puppy, possibly a Shiba Ina, resting in a man's arms. Stacy almost skimmed past the picture once again, deciding it may be for his 'Stalkers-r-us' business, before catching a look at that man's smiling face. He looked familiar, very familiar. Taking her own phone out of her pocket, Stacy quickly snapped a photo of it before placing it back onto the table and hurrying back into the corridor just as the sound of steps of the stairs returned, and with it came Luke holding two cups in his hands.

"I thought I'd get you one as well." And now there was defiantly something wrong with this guy.

"Err, thanks." Stacy took the cup, deciding to play it cool as she inwardly thought this was a trick to make her feel sorry for her actions and admit she was snooping around in his room.

"No problem." As she watched Luke return to his room, word-less about her actions, Stacy decided it was time to put her suspicions to rest, even if the photographs did leave her with some curiosity, especially with her questions of what the last picture may show. No, she was not some seven year old who went around believing her brother was an alien anymore (and it was his fault she had even believed it at that age), she had more important things to worry about now.

"Oh, and can you remind me tomorrow I need to go to the mall? I've got some birthday presents to buy." Alien. Defiantly an alien.

* * *

I just want to take a moment to say that Stacy's opinions on her appearance are not meant to offend anyone; these are just reflections of her personal views and insecurities.

Well, this may only be a short one, but it says everything I need to say for this chapter (hopefully). Thank you for taking the time to read, and if you can please leave a review to let me know what you thought.


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